BOOK REVIEW: The Time Keeper – by Mitch Albom

Title: The Time Keeper
Author: Mitch Albom
Genre: Contemporary, Fiction, Fantasy
First published: September 4th 2012
Finished reading: October 7th 2015
Pages: 224

“With endless time, nothing is special. With no loss or sacrifice, we can’t appreciate what we have.”

I’ve had Mitch Albom‘s work on my radar for a while now, but I was hesitant to pick it up because I normally don’t really enjoy religious stories. The Time Keeper has been recommended to me various time though and I was promised this story was mostly spiritual/inspirational, which I can say is correct now I’ve finally read it. The Time Keeper is an intriguing story about the man who first invented time and how it evolved over six thousand years, and it really makes you think about how important time seems to be nowadays. It truly is an inspiring story that is also very well written. The only complaint I might have is that the ‘today’ characters, Sarah and Victor, just felt too superficial and I couldn’t really connect to them. But it is also clear that Mitch Albom mostly wrote this novel to make us think about the importancy we give time and how it can affect our lives in a negative way. I would definitely recommend this read if you enjoy the genre!

When the first man succeeds in measuring time and invents the first clock, he is punished and becomes Father Time. He is banished to a cave for six thousand years and forced to listen to the voices of those asking for more time… When his soul is almost broken, he is hiven his freedom under one condition: fulfill the mission of teaching two earthly people the true meaning of time. Only then he will be able to return to his loved ones… He returns to our world and starts a journey to find the two people that he is supposed to teach. One wants to give up on life, while the other wants to live forever… Will he be able to show them the true meaning of time?

The Time Keeper is without doubt a very interesting read with a strong message. I wasn’t convinced by some of the characters, but the chapters with the man that invented time, Dor, are excellent. This Mitch Albom novel is a quick read and very well written, and I would definitely recommend it if you normally enjoy these kind of reads. It definitely makes you see things in a different perspective!